The Way I do it

[LibertyNT]

I'm wondering how close this is to the way
any oldies station ever was, or if it is any good
This is a one hour sample of what The Crow Plays

11 AM hour September 1st

The Tracks Of My Tears - Smokey Robinson and The Miracles
My Whole World Ended - David Ruffin'
The Mountain's High - Dick And Dee
It's Now Or Never - Elvis Presley
One Fine Day - The Chiffons
Tighter, Tighter - Alive & Kicking
There's A Moon Out Tonight - The Capris
Jingle Jangle - The Archies
Wipe Out - The Surfaries
I Could Never Love Another -
California Dreamin' - Mama's And Papa's
Oh, Boy! - Buddy Holly
He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother - Neil Diamond
Crystal Blue Persuasion - Tommy James And The Shondells
Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon And Garfunkel
Rider's On The Storm - The Doors

 

[TheFonz]

As a '50s/early '60s guy, it's a station I could live with. However, I would probably grab the dial if you played those last three songs back-to-back.

 

[Prais]

Great songs, not so great order. I'd listen.

Suggestions;
You need Selector, and categories of songs. I do it at home with OTS. Maybe too, those songs in "eras" 55-59/60-66/67-72, and "energy" categories so the tempos are more varied and 2 hot or 2 slow songs are not together. That would help stop the inevitable "train wrecks and too much "slow"in a row."

The Male vocal Motown would not be together at the beginning, the 4 slow songs at the end may be a tune-out.

Dontcha' just love it?

 

[LibertyNT]

Thanks for the feedback

That is a problem I have been faced with for the 2 years I've been doing this.
Sometimes the station will hit a set that is just awesome. Other days It just never happens to get a real good groove going.

All the 50's are currently in their own folder and the automation is set up to pick one at random 4 times an hour.

I'm slowly going more 60's focused with early 70's
What is happening is the play list is and always has been set to shuffle. So I get what you saw there. Good songs, and as you both said bad order.

I will certainly try to start spiting up the play list more. Prais has a good idea going there.


Also I too hate a lot of slow in a row.
Keep the feedback coming!

 

[Prais]

Please take my posts in the friendly spirit they are meant. You asked, I SUGGEST, ok?

Jingle Jangle topped at #10 in 1969. I was a dj for over 20 years, and the ONLY Archies I know (or can tolerate) is Sugar, Sugar. I'd PLAY that. I'm 61 now. I was 19 then, and NEVER heard Jingle Jangle til I did not play it on my oldies station. That is a reason for ME to NOT play it. Please, tell me why you WANT to play it?

 

[LibertyNT]

Please take my posts in the friendly spirit they are meant. You asked, I SUGGEST, ok?

Jingle Jangle topped at #10 in 1969. I was a dj for over 20 years, and the ONLY Archies I know (or can tolerate) is Sugar, Sugar. I'd PLAY that. I'm 61 now. I was 19 then, and NEVER heard Jingle Jangle til I did not play it on my oldies station. That is a reason for ME to NOT play it. Please, tell me why you WANT to play it?

Never sensed hostility, I'm glad you are offering feedback 8)

Well Jingle Jangle...

What I have tried to do At The Crow is play the best known hits of a Certain Artist as well as the lesser known hits, so long as they made the top 40.
Jingle jangle met that criteria. (i.e I play Sugar Sugar as well as Jingle Jangle)

 

[Prais]

Google "Selector." It's WAY out of my price range (personally) but I've used it at several places and LOVE it. You'll note in the description of the program, the way you would categorize songs in that program, and you can then "do it yourself." I use ots (LOVE it!) and "emulate" Selector, quite well, if I do say so, myself.

You might listen to "Westwood One Adult Standards" - the Westwood 1 format. THEY use Selector better than anyone I know. Then, use their music category formatics (with YOUR music). Tht's pretty much what I did about 10 years ago, and it has served me well.

 

[LibertyNT]

sounds like an awesome program!
OTS looks pretty darned cool to.
At The Moment I'm running the station on Zara Radio
(I'm on a low budget here)
I will defiantly consider OTS or Selector

I'll take a look at that Westwood one.

 

[GridLeakBias]

Please take my posts in the friendly spirit they are meant. You asked, I SUGGEST, ok?

Jingle Jangle topped at #10 in 1969. I was a dj for over 20 years, and the ONLY Archies I know (or can tolerate) is Sugar, Sugar. I'd PLAY that. I'm 61 now. I was 19 then, and NEVER heard Jingle Jangle til I did not play it on my oldies station. That is a reason for ME to NOT play it. Please, tell me why you WANT to play it?

Never sensed hostility, I'm glad you are offering feedback 8)

Well Jingle Jangle...

What I have tried to do At The Crow is play the best known hits of a Certain Artist as well as the lesser known hits, so long as they made the top 40.
Jingle jangle met that criteria. (i.e I play Sugar Sugar as well as Jingle Jangle)

Jingle Jangle was a good insert in the playlist - how many times do we have to hear Sugar Sugar before we're convinced The Archies had no other hit?

Could have left the Doors off the play, IMHO. Keep working, you're on the right track.

8)

 

[Tom Wells]

Trainwrecks are fun. 8)

So is playing 3 female vocal artists in a row.
I do try to avoid too many slow songs in a row, but when the playlist has mostly fast stuff, thats not often a problem.

I like "Truck Driver" by The Archies, and the best version of "Sugar Sugar" is by El Chicano.

The best version of "Satisfaction" is by Phyllis Diller!

 

[stevations]

The topic of these posts are much more interesting than the posts about.........( type of song ) have it
that are filled on the 50s and 60s discussion board. I will throw in my two cents worth of opinion here.....I like to hear familiar songs by a popular artist that did not have the hit with that song. An extreme example would be Pat Boone doing Smoke on the Water but a more normal example would be an artist like Tom Jones doing a Petula Clark song. I love oldies but need to hear something different once in a while to keep my interest. There are a lot of great oldies that are forgotten. I see that topic on alot of the various City Discussion Boards. I do like to hear the lesser known hits of artists. An example from the 70s would be the Hues Corporation doing Rockin Soul. I should get out my 45s and list some 50s and 60s. I would love to hear some of the great Beatles songs that never get played anymore. Some others that come to mind..... Ma Na Ma Na, Martian Hop, Groovy Baby, Mary Mary, Something in the Air, Epistle to Dippy, Cherry Hill Park, Green Door, She's Everything, Wonderful World. OOPPs I am starting to sound like The Obscure Songs Have It.

 

[FRR]

I hear Wipe Out one more time I think I'll vomit.

 

[TheFonz]

I hear Wipe Out one more time I think I'll vomit.

We could start a whole new thread about songs about overplayed songs that make us vomit.....................

Wipe Out
Louie Louie
Crimson & Clover
The Lion Sleeps Tonight
Hey Jude........................................

 

[radioman148]

I hear Wipe Out one more time I think I'll vomit.

We could start a whole new thread about songs about overplayed songs that make us vomit.....................

Wipe Out
Louie Louie
Crimson & Clover
The Lion Sleeps Tonight
Hey Jude........................................

American Pie
Brand New Key

 

[FRR]

AND, don't forgot that worst song of all time.....Brandy, You're A Fine Girl. I can actually get a headache if I am somewhere when the song comes on and I can't turn it off. I never remember many stations playing it in my hometown when it came out, but the way the oldies stations play it, you'd think it was number one. I don't even know ANYONE who likes it.

 

[Prais]

Re; Brandy and The Lion Sleeps Tonight;
I suggest that you get some older friends. People who like these songs would be around 60.

1. I LOVE both of those songs.
2. Brandy WAS #1 in 1972 and all over the radio.
3. Lion was #3 by Robert John and #1 by the Tokens.
4. Both of these usually rank high in "auditorium tests."
5. If your hometown is Minsk, I understand.

6. I really dislike "remakes" of hit songs, (what Ray Conniff
used to do), but this music IS appropriate for beautiful music stations; Patty Page singing "Little Green Apples" , etc. "It's NOT the hit!"

This "mor tactic" raises the age of the radio demographic and is NOT paying the "original hit." It sounds like each song was from the "39 cent special" - you know, the records with the "small hole" drilled in the label.

 

[GridLeakBias]

AND, don't forgot that worst song of all time.....Brandy, You're A Fine Girl. I can actually get a headache if I am somewhere when the song comes on and I can't turn it off. I never remember many stations playing it in my hometown when it came out, but the way the oldies stations play it, you'd think it was number one. I don't even know ANYONE who likes it.

As much as I dislike the song "Brandy", its name popularity was the influence on a lot of young women. I spent an ungodly amount of time on the road during this era engineering and maintaining radio sites around the southwest, and it seems every hotel/motel lounge/bar/dive had a cocktail waitress/barmaid with the name "Brandy". Made it so easy on the little black book - just one entry under name, with a lot of phone numbers underneath. Just had to get the phone number/town/city right. :

 

[johnsummers]

Regarding the list posted way back in September at the beginning of this thread, I agree with what someone else said earlier: good songs (mostly) bad order. Watch the two Motown's in a row and three in one hour, not to mention two sung by David Ruffin, yes, and the 3 slow ones at the end. Try not to play 2 or 3 in a row from the same era. And, I wouldn't play "Jingle Jangle" either, or "Who's Your Baby" (lol). Remember, you're programming to the masses, NOT OLDIES GEEKS! (like me) You can air out the library (a bit) in features and special weekends. Having been in the format in a top 5 market for 15 years, I can tell you that the average person is not NEARLY as burned out on "My Girl", "Oh, Pretty Woman", "Brandy", etc...as we are. I still get calls wanting to know who sings "Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch"...really! Also, a song's original chart position is of absolutely no importance. What matters is whether or not it's a hit TODAY!! Another thing to remember; if you've chosen to format your station with 'traditional oldies', chances are very good that you're alone in the format. So, for Heaven's sake: pay the hits if you want to have any hope of survival!! No one else is playing those songs (Kind Of A Drag, I'm Into Something Good, I'm your Puppet, etc) and people's emotions are attached to them. Also, make it a fun listen and present the station in a professional manner. Use lots of window dressing, tight and bright, good formatics (forward momentum etc), no pukey jocks " where were you in 1962 .... the sound of Dick and DeeDee"..etc.. There's obviously more, but , please, if you want to show off your music collection, knowledge of music or listen to a bunch of stiffs (which I like to do...a lot), do it on your own time OR on your internet or part 15 station where you can 'amaze yourself at how good it sounds' and listenership and revenue don't matter. Don't do it on a real signal where actual people may hear it and money and jobs are at stake. Whew! Sorry for the rant. (lol)...

 

[oldies76]

don't forgot that worst song of all time.....Brandy, You're A Fine Girl.

??? One of the BEST songs of 1972.

 

[TheFonz]

2. Brandy WAS #1 in 1972 and all over the radio.
3. Lion was #3 by Robert John and #1 by the Tokens.
4. Both of these usually rank high in "auditorium tests."

1. Any radio station PD will tell you that the charts have absolutly nothing to do with their playlists.
2. I've never met anyone who has been in that auditorium.